Bullsh%$

So I came across this story about the adoption of electronic shelf labels, which allows for price changes to be changed in a matter of seconds.

The technology is fairly simple, but the application of this technology is concerning.

Basically this technology is tailor made for price gouging (they like to call it surge pricing).

Of course, they claim that they would never do that:

Grocery store prices are changing faster than ever before — literally. This month, Walmart became the latest retailer to announce it’s replacing the price stickers in its aisles with electronic shelf labels. The new labels allow employees to change prices as often as every ten seconds.

“If it’s hot outside, we can raise the price of water and ice cream. If there's something that’s close to the expiration date, we can lower the price — that’s the good news,” said Phil Lempert, a grocery industry analyst.

No, Mr. Lempert, it is not good news, it is evidence that you have no human decency.

It's price gouging, and it is a contemptible and morally indefensible business practice, and I guarantee you that it will be used to adjust prices based on things like protected demographic status, i.e. race, because that is already what happens in things like the Gypsy cab companies and vacation rental apps.

………

As higher wages make labor more expensive, retailers big and small can benefit from the increased productivity that digitized shelf labels enable, said Santiago Gallino, a professor specializing in retail management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

That is a legitimate reason to adopt a system, there will be significant labor savings, at least if the systems are sufficiently reliable and have sufficient battery life,  The application looks very well suited to something like E-Ink, which only draws power when the display is changed.

But then, Mr. Gallino veers into the realm of corporate ass-kissing bullsh%$:

While the labels give retailers the ability to increase prices suddenly, Gallino doubts companies like Walmart will take advantage of the technology in that way.

“To be honest, I don’t think that’s the underlying main driver of this,” Gallino said. “These are companies that tend to have a long-term relationship with their customers and I think the risk of frustrating them could be too risky, so I would be surprised if they try to do that.”

No. Mr. Gallino.  If a technology gives the business an opportunity to generate a few more pennies of profit from abusing their customer, business will use this to abuse their customer.

Just look at the interminable automated voice mail systems.

They turn customer service into agony, but it saves some money, but it reduces customer support costs, and reduces the number of customers who make claims or make refunds, so it's everywhere.